Ethnography on Homelessness (Proposal)

Introduction

In this paper, I will conduct a study to investigate the topic on homelessness in the streets of Durham, United States. The study will focus on in Durham’s homeless population with particular interest on the homeless among male adults in the streets of Durham.

Research Questions

I will address the following research question: Who are the homeless people in Durham, what the experience of being homeless are and what factors that contribute to homelessness.

Resources to Explore

To explore the question, I will use the findings from past literatures on homelessness in Darham, observations, field notes and interviews.

Field site

The study will be conducted in the Street of Durham among homeless individuals. Homelessness is growing problem in Durham with the number of homeless people is increasing every year. The participants of the study will include homeless adult males found near the Duke’s Campus in Durham.

Summary of Previsit assumptions

Before the visiting the study site, I had concerns about accessing entry to the homeless individuals in the streets of Durham. I feared they would be unwelcoming and uncooperative and they would not be willing to tell their personal stories. Similarly, before the visit, I had a very negative perception on the homeless people. I believed they were homeless because of laziness or bad luck.

I was anxious to visit the homeless people in the streets because I had little ideas on what to expect. I have never been around homeless individuals throughout my life therefore I had never talked or given money to a homeless person and now that I have to interview them about their life was overwhelming.

Summary of initial visit

After gaining entry to the homeless population in the streets of Durham, I found that the homeless people were friendly and conversational. Most of them willing shared their stories and I was able to obtain adequate information for the project. In addition, I learnt that every homeless person have their own story of the life in Durham and the factors that contributed to their homelessness. I also obtained firsthand experience of the hardships that homeless people face on their daily lives.

My first experience with a homeless individual provided me with the understanding that homeless people also have needs and aspirations. This experience also changed my viewpoint that the states of homeliness is an individual’s infliction. I began to understand that homelessness is contributed to by circumstances and societal structure. I learnt that homeless people are simply victims of the culture and public policy that forces them to live in hardship.

Focus for second field visit

The second visit is focused on seeking to understand the perspective of the community towards the homeless male adults in the streets of Durham. During my first visit, I learnt that despite the plight of homeless people in the country, most Americans have chosen to ignore the troubles of those individuals living in their communities. Understanding their perspective would be important in determining the solution to address the problem.

I observed various cultural aspects in Durham that prompted me to want to carry further studies on societal factors that result to homelessness, the extent of suffering among homeless individuals, the systems and behavior that contribute to the prevalence of homelessness. I was ashamed of myself for judging the homeless people the way I used to initially. However, this discovery was a reflection of the personal biasness that exist within the American community towards the homeless. Therefore, also wanted to conduct further research to have a deeper understanding of the different identities and appearances that have been constructed by society towards the homeless.

Ethnography on Homelessness in Durham (Project)

Introduction

The topic of this project is to investigate ethnography on homelessness in the streets of Darham in the United States. The project will allow me to explore the phenomenon of homelessness, which is an intriguing topic for me. Homelessness is a phenomenon that is found in most communities across America. The preconceptions about homelessness is that it is facilitated by personal infliction such as laziness and bad luck. However, the study findings provided me with different factors that changed my viewpoint on homelessness. Investigating this topic is of interest to me because homelessness has become a major problem in society and also requires additional research in this field. The study will enhance my further understanding of the topic and be able to develop effective strategies to address the problem.

Description of the event

The first experience with a homeless person occurred before commencing with my fieldwork research on the topic of homelessness. While peeping through the window of my hostel of the morning after my first week of admission in Duke College, I saw a man about 50 years of old brushing his teeth outside an old car parked beside an old building located opposite our hostel. Later I saw him wash his shirt and hanged on top of the car. This was my first time to see a person living in a car and I figured the person could be homeless. From this ,moment, I began asking myself many questions such as what caused this man to be homeless, what is the experience of being homeless and how many other homeless people in are living in cars in Durham. Therefore, the topic of this project intrigued me to explore the various questions that were in my mind. I introduced myself to the man (Mr. Morgan), asked him what he would for lunch, I came back with beverages and pizza. I began interviewing him as we ate together.

My second experience was with Mr. Clarke, a homeless old man who looks older, he sleeps in old deserted incomplete building near the University. I approached Mr. Clarke with the help of Mr. Morgan who I had made friends with during my research. Mr. Clarke case of homeless was also surprising because the jeans he wore was in good condition and was carrying a new backpack that contained his possessions. Normally, homeless people appear ragged and dirty unlike Mr. Clarke who was well groomed and he caught my interest. After interviewing Mr. Clark, I was able to interview five more homeless people near the Duke Campus.

Analysis                                                                                                                                

The study used participant-observation as the primary method of collecting data. The study was conducted for one month. The data collected was supplemented with interviews that involved seven male adults near Dukes University, the field notes and findings of past literature materials. The data collected and information from literature provide me with adequate details that I used for analyzing my study. Additionally, the data collected provided me with a deeper understanding of the concept of homelessness not only in Durham but also across the U.S and globally. Moreover, data generated ideas for developing effective strategies for addressing the problem of homelessness in Durham.

Through research, I was able to identify who are the homeless people are in Durham. According to Bennett (960-985), a homeless person refers to an individual who lives on the streets and sleeps in hallways, cars, shelter or woods.  For instance, Mr. Morgan slept in an old car and Mr. Clarke slept in an old deserted building. From the observation and conversation with these homeless people, I also learnt that they face extreme difficulties in their daily lives such as the trauma of sleeping in cold at night, lack of food and clothing. According to Lyon-Callo (215-220), homeless men have a tendency of depending on support services in order to overcome their homelessness. Lyon-Callo (215-220), asserts that provision of community support services is important in helping the homeless individuals with housing problems or addictions issues and other basic needs.

After conducting interviews with the seven homeless individuals’ l learnt that each had different stories. It provided me with understanding of some mechanisms of homelessness. Additionally, I also understood how various factors in Durham such as culture and public policies contributed to state of homelessness of these men. This changed my initial perception that homelessness comes about through self-infliction. The data revealed that most people in society have a negative perception towards the homeless people where they are stereotyped to be lazy and want to be in the state of homelessness out of their own will.

I was able to identify six components of homelessness that are relevant to those in Durham. These components include sales and solicitation, which is a method used in Durham to institutionalizing the homeless people. The program promotes homeless as a legal statue whereby they are required to have a permit to be part of it thus fail to address the problem and accept homelessness as a permanent reality. Government and public policy is another component identified whereby the government determines the level of homeless that exists in the country. Ineffective public policy in areas of labor markets and housing has contributed greatly to the rise of homelessness in Durham. Among the homeless people interviewed, stated that the housing policies favors the rich only who can afford the expensive houses leaving those with low income without houses (Lancione 1-22).

Moreover, drug abuse and Mental Health is also a component of homelessness. Statistics indicate that 46.3% of the homeless population in the United States had alcohol or drug problems. 11.7% of those who are discharged from rehabilitation centers become homeless after a period of one month since their discharge. The same study revealed that the homelessness has been contributed to by the policy that institutionalizes the mentally ill individuals. The state of being homeless is a component of homelessness whereby the homeless individuals believe it is contributed to by societal determinants. From the interview, it is evident that the people in society treated the homeless people negatively such that they cannot give them money, food or shelter (Lancione 1-22).

Furthermore, labor markets is a component of homelessness whereby racial discrimination hampers individuals from communities such as African Americans and Hispanics to access labor market. Labor market is a social determinant where existence of a many unskilled job contributes to homelessness due to less pay that cannot afford to rent a house. In Durham, the prevalent of unskilled jobs has contributed to the increase in homeless individuals in the streets. Consequently, housing market is also a component of homelessness.  Lack of low-cost housing In Durham has resulted in homelessness among people. Areas of low-cost housing has become fewer thus rendering people homeless (Lancione 363-375).

Conclusion

Homelessness is a prevalent problem in Durham. My first experience with a homeless individual in Durham enhanced my understanding that homeless people have needs and aspirations such as housing and better a life. I understood that homelessness are contributed by factors such as societal structure and public policies that cause vulnerable individuals to become homeless. This understanding changed my perception that homelessness is self-inflicted situation such as bad luck and not working hard to hard a better life. Through interviews and observation, I obtained firsthand experience of the sufferings that homeless individuals face in their day to day lives such as cold, lack of food, and clothing among others. I was able to identify the six components of homelessness including ineffective public policy on areas of housing and labor market, drug abuse and mental health, housing market, labor market and the state of being homeless. The analysis indicated the existing flaws in the socioeconomic structure in the U.S that has contributed to increasing rate of homelessness in society. Therefore, it is important for the identified factors that facilitate homelessness to be addressed in order to minimize the problem and alleviate the homeless people from sufferings.

Works cited

Bennett, Katy. “Homeless at home in East Durham.” Antipode 43.4 (2011): 960-985.

Lancione, Michele. “Racialised dissatisfaction: homelessness management and the everyday assemblage of difference.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 41.4 (2016): 363-375.

Lancione, Michele. “The ethnographic novel as activist mode of existence: translating the field with homeless people and beyond.” Social & Cultural Geography (2016): 1-22.

Lyon-Callo, Vincent. “Homelessness or the Violence of Poverty and Exploitation: Does It Matter?.” Rethinking Marxism 24.2 (2012): 215-220.

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